How Amazon Adapted Its Business Model to India

Amazon.com debuted as an online bookstore in $1994.$ Founder Jeff Bezos$$s initial business model was simple: Source a single product type from wholesalers and publishers and sell it directly to consumers on the then fledgling internet. Thanks to Bezos$$s vision and a highly successful, userfriendly website, by Amazon.com was the first online retailer to boast one million customers. After launching its Indian website in $2013,$ Amazon developed a program to recruit an army of suppliers and convince them it was a trustworthy partner that could help them increase the market for their products. Amazon wheeled out a program called Amazon Chai Cart: mobile tea carts that navigated city streets, serving refreshments to small$-$business owners while teaching them the virtues of e$-$commerce. The company also localized its fulfillment platform in India by introducing Easy Ship and Seller Flex. Vendors designate a section of their own warehouses for products to be sold on Amazon.in$,,$ and Amazon coordinates the delivery logistics$.$ Amazon has contracts with a number of major delivery services in the country, including India Post and cargo airline Blue Dart. Determined to protect its own, India enacted a rigid FDI policy restricting foreign multi$-$brand retailers from selling directly to consumers online. That meant any venture would basically be a third$-$party seller for Indian$-$made products. The government$$s FDI restrictions are designed in part to protect convenience$-$store owners.

Amazon has enlisted mom$-$and$-$pop store owners as partners in its delivery platform. In small villages and remote areas where few people have internet access, residents can go to their local store and use the owner$$s internet connection to browse and select goods from Amazon.in$.$ Store owners record their orders, alert customers when their products are delivered to the store, collect the cash payment, and pass along the money $$ minus a handling fee $$ to Amazon. Store owners report increased sales of their own while customers are on$-$site. Amazon began selling groceries and consumer goods in $2013$ and has since expanded its offerings via three different programmes; $$ Amazon Pantry: The core offering of groceries and household products is available in over $30$ major cities. $$ Amazon Now: The app$-$based service promises two$-$hour deliveries in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. $$ Subscribe & Save: Periodically delivers products needed weekly or monthly. Generally, consumables are launched in other countries much later after books, then electronics. But in India, Amazon wanted consumables to be the core offering because spending habits of Indian customers, $60-70\%$ of their wallet goes toward consumable products. From product to delivery, Amazon has reinvented its ecosystem to address the challenges it has faced conducting an e$-$commerce enterprise in India.

$1.$ Briefly analyze TWO $(2)$ forces of local responsiveness and differentiation encountered by Amazon in its India operation?